In connection with various equipment which is to be utilized for processing, packing, storing, and transporting food products, the food industry often uses guide lines and specifications which are periodically promulgated by means of various different private organizations, institutes, or the like, as well as state or federal governmental agencies, such as, for example, the American Meat Institute (AMI), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Baking Industry Sanitation Standards Committee (BISSC), in order to ensure that the food is, and remains, sanitary from the grower or manufacturer to the consumer retail outlet. More particularly, in connection with cases or cartons utilized for packing or containing the various different food products, it is desirable to effectively eliminate or minimize areas or regions of the case or carton sealer assembly or apparatus which would otherwise accumulate water, during, for example, a wash-down process, so as to, in turn, effectively eliminate or minimize the potential for such areas or regions of the case or carton sealer assembly or apparatus to harbor bacteria or to foster the growth thereof. Along these lines, it is therefore desirable that the case or carton sealer assembly, apparatus or equipment comprises structure which effectively readily sheds or drains water, or which effectively resists the accumulation of water, and in addition, is capable of being readily disassembled so as to facilitate the cleaning thereof. Still yet further, it is important in connection with the operation of such case or carton sealer assemblies or apparatus that the same effectively be reversible so as to be capable of processing or sealing cases or cartons in either one of two oppositely oriented directions.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved case sealer assembly or apparatus wherein the same would be uniquely structured so as to effectively eliminate or minimize areas or regions of the assembly or apparatus which would otherwise accumulate water, during, for example, a wash-down process, so as to, in turn, effectively eliminate or minimize the potential for such areas or regions of the assembly or apparatus to harbor bacteria or to foster the growth thereof. In addition, a need exists in the art for a new and improved case sealer assembly or apparatus wherein the same would also be uniquely structured so as to exhibit knockdown capabilities whereby the various subassemblies or components of the case sealer assembly or apparatus would be relatively easy to remove from the overall case sealer assembly or apparatus in order to facilitate the cleaning of the various subassemblies or components of the case sealer assembly or apparatus. Still further, a need exists in the art for a new and improved case sealer assembly or apparatus which is also capable of having its various subassemblies positionally reversed such that the new and improved case sealer assembly or apparatus would be able to conduct or process cases within and through the assembly or apparatus in either one of two opposite directions.